NFL players have to show sportsmanship lest they draw flags and/or fines and now officiating crews are on notice that they, too, must display appropriate behavior in the heat of the moment.
The NFL flagged its officials Monday, suspending line judge Jeff Seeman and referee Adrian Hill for their actions during a wild Week 4 marked by profane flare-ups that included Aaron Rodgers and Mike McCarthy cursing at each other and Dre Greenlaw displaying the kind
of fiery spirit toward Sean Payton that the Broncos head coach wished had shown up last season in Denver.
Seeman was banned two games for swearing at Trey McBride after Arizona's star tight end argued for a pass interference call when he was hit by a defender before the ball arrived. Hill received a one-game suspension for unprofessional conduct for yelling at Eric Wilson and pointing for him to get away after the Minnesota Vikings linebacker tried to help him to his feet after a collision knocked him over.
Greenlaw, who rejoined the Niners last offseason, forced a fumble and collected a dozen tackles in San Francisco's 24-14 win over the Broncos on Sunday.
After just about every one of his stops, he pointed and hollered at Payton, assuredly still stinging over his departure from Denver in which he said his agent had to inform him the Broncos were moving on just one year into his three-year, $31.5 million deal.
As Payton was walking across the field to shake Mike Shanahan’s hand after the game, Greenlaw approached him and took one more verbal shot at his old coach as fellow linebacker Fred Warner redirected him toward the 49ers' tunnel.
Payton didn't engage with Greenlaw, who told the San Francisco Chronicle, “I told him to get the (expletive) off the field. That’s it: ’Get the (expletive) off the field.”
About the only time Greenlaw showed this much fire in his one season in Denver was when he chased down and berated referee Brad Allen after a wild 33-32 win over the Giants in Week 7. That drew a one-game suspension for Greenlaw just 48 hours after he'd returned from an injured thigh that had bothered him for months.
Greenlaw ended up playing in just eight games and after the season said he preferred Shanahan's liberal use of “vet days” to Payton's hard workouts during the week.
Asked if he had any issue with Greenlaw getting in his face Sunday, Payton said, “No, and I said this to Kyle afterwards, I think the world of him. I really love everything about him and he plays with that emotion. So, it's all good.”
Maybe it's all good in Pittsburgh, too.
McCarthy expressed regret for profanity he used toward Rodgers that was caught on the Thursday night broadcast of Pittsburgh's 27-24 loss to Cleveland.
Midway through the first quarter, a flustered Rodgers was shown looking at Pittsburgh's sideline and yelling, “What the (expletive)? Call it!” The camera then cut to McCarthy, who muttered a profanity in response.
“Communication sometimes is not the best choice of words, but everybody’s competing on the field,” McCarthy said. “I think what’s said on the field, the way I grew up in this game, usually stays on the field. That’s not the case today. I understand that. But any negative communication on my part, I wish I wouldn’t use those words.”
Rodgers said the crowd noise made it difficult to communicate at times, noting, “It was a good crowd. It was loud.”
The hot mic saw to it that Rodgers' message to McCarthy was loud and clear and any amateur lip reader could also clearly decipher the head coach's response to his quarterback who spent 13 seasons with him in Green Bay.
Players yelling at the sidelines — even their own — is nothing new.
Neither are heated exchanges between players and officials.
But these four stood out, especially because they were caught on camera and quickly raced across social media, not the kind of viral moments the NFL prefers. McBride knew Seeman's vulgarity was being broadcast — he pointed toward the camera that caught the line judge's repeated obscenities.
“Obviously, you hate to see it, for obvious reasons,” Arizona coach Mike LaFleur said. “I do want to give the man a little bit of grace, too. I know Jeff. He’s a good man. It’s unfortunate it happened. It can’t happen, obviously, and I’ll leave it at that.”
The incident drew the ire of union leader JC Tretter, a retired offensive lineman who played eight seasons in the NFL: “This kind of behavior from an official towards a player is unacceptable,” Tretter, the NFL Players Association’s executive director, posted on social media along with a video clip of the incident. “Players are consistently held accountable when the roles are reversed. We expect the NFL to hold officials to the same standard.”
Vikings coach Kevin O'Connell lamented the official's out-of-bounds reaction in the Miami-Minnesota game where Wilson was only trying to help Hill to his feet after he got knocked into the referee, who fell down.
“I just think it’s one of those situations in kind of a high-energy moment there,” O’Connell said. “I think stuff like that can happen sometimes, but I don’t have any major concerns, and I think Adrian’s a really good official and does a really good job. I think that was just kind of fast moment that happened, and we can put it behind us, hopefully.”
The league flagged its own officials to make sure that happens.
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With contributions from AP Pro Football Writers Rob Maaddi, Dave Campbell and Josh Dubow and AP Sports Writer David Brandt.
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